Three Important Reasons Why You Should Be Honest In Your Pre-Employment Medical History Questionnaire

Pre-Employment Medical Assessments are a common requirement for many high risk industry job roles such as mining, oil, gas, construction and logistics.  Pre-employment medical testing is used to ensure a potential employee, or applicant, is safe and fit to perform the job role.

A Medical History Questionnaire is one of the 3 major areas generally included in Pre-Employment Medical Testing.  When completing a Medical History Questionnaire, applicants are required to complete a series of questions relating to their past and present medical history such as:

• Current medication;
• Previous surgery;
• Chronic Diseases;
• Injury history;
• Working history including exposure to dust, radiation or chemicals;
• Allergies;
• Smoking history;
• Consumption of alcohol;
• Exercise history.

It is important that applicants are completely honest when completing the medical history for 3 reasons:

1.    Your Safety

It is possible for an applicant to conceal some of the past and present conditions covered in a Medical History Questionnaire.  A lot of these are relevant to a workers health risk and their ability to perform all aspects of a job role.  Most Employers will ensure that an employee with a known health risk receives periodic health surveillance to ensure the health risk is not increasing and also a Health Management Plan help manage or decrease the health risk.

2.    Inconsistent Results

Before an applicant is signed off as fit to perform a job role, their Medical History Questionnaire is cross-referenced with the results of their Medical Testing and their Functional Testing.  If the information provided in the Medical History Questionnaire is inconsistent with the results of either the Medical Testing or the Functional Capacity Testing, then doubt is cast over the disclosure of an applicant and therefore the fitness of an applicant to perform the required job role.

3.    Worker’s Compensation

Recent changes have been made to the Worker’s Compensation Act in some states that affect the liability of an insurer to support a worker in their treatment and return to work as a result of a workplace injury.  In order for a worker to be given the full cover for a workplace injury, they must disclose all the information that is required of them in a Medical History Questionnaire.